Macario

Roberto Gavaldón: Macario (MX 1960) starring Ignacio Lopez Tarso as Macario.

/ / MX / 1960 / Gavaldón, Roberto / fantastique
Macario. PC: Clasa Films Mundiales. P: Armando Orive Alba. D: Roberto Gavaldón. Based on the story by B. Traven. DP: Gabriel Figueroa. M: Raúl Lavista. CAST: Ignacio Lopez Tarso (Macario), Pina Pellicer (Macario’s wife), Enrique Lucero (Death), José Galvez (The Devil), José Luis Jiménez (God). 90’. B&w Academy. Print had bad definition. Viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Thursday 12 March 1998. *** It takes places on the Day of the Dead. The poor wood-cutter has been starving as long as he can remember. As his wife gives him a whole turkey to eat he meets Death, who gives him a vision in matters of life and death. As a miracle man he gets in trouble with the Inquisition. The final confrontation takes place in Death’s hall of candles. It is an effective sequence resembling Fritz Lang’s Der müde Tod.

Enamorada

/ / MX / 1946 / Fernández, Emilio / melodrama
Enamorada / A Woman In Love. PC: Panamerica Films, S.A. D: Emilio Fernández. DP: Gabriel Figueroa. CAST: Pedro Armendáriz (General José Juan Reyes), Maria Félix (Beatriz Peñafiel), Eugenio Rossi, Fernando Fernández. 99’. B&w Academy. English subtitles by Eurofilm USA. Print had good definition, reel 4 out of synch. Duration of screening 94’. Viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Wednesday 11 March 1998. ** A brutal revolutionary general arrives in town and falls desperately in love with a fine woman. Story has resemblances with The Taming of the Shrew. The most effective sequences are based on visual composition and music: the church scenes with ”Ave Maria” and the serenade scenes with ”Malegueña salerosa”.

Las abandonadas / The Abandoned

Emilio Fernández: Las abandonadas / The Abandoned (MX 1944). Dolores del Río (Margarita Pérez). 

/ / MX / 1944 / Fernández, Emilio / melodrama

Abandonadas, Las / Abandoned Women. PC: Films Mundiales. D: Emilio Fernández. DP: Gabriel Figueroa. CAST: Dolores del Río (Margarita Pérez), Pedro Armendáriz (Juan Gómez), Víctor Junco (Julio Cortázar / Margarito). 101’. B&w Academy. Light definition brilliant in reel 1, inconsistent during the rest of the film. English subtitles. Duration of screening 97’. Viewed in Helsinki, Finnish Film Archive, Cinema Orion, Tuesday 10 March 1998. ** Story of abandoned mother told with magnificent visual composition. Excellent performers and cinematography.